Bowden says he won't miss The Swamp

Saturday

Nov 28, 2009 at 10:04 PM

While he may still have one year left as head coach at Florida State, Saturday was Bobby Bowden's last game walking the visitors' sideline at Florida Field.

While he may still have one year left as head coach at Florida State, Saturday was Bobby Bowden's last game walking the visitors' sideline at Florida Field. "I've had some great memories of coaching here," Bowden said following his Seminoles' 37-10 loss to Florida. "There's been a lot of tail-kicking. That was a pretty good tail-kicking here today. "It's a great atmosphere. But I won't miss it. I admire them. It was a packed stadium for a 6-5 team. They packed the place, were loud, vociferous. I'm amazed at them." Bowden, 80, leaves Gainesville with a 7-10 mark against the Gators, 17-18-1 overall. "This is my last one here," Bowden said. "If I want to come back I'll have to buy a ticket." FSU (6-6) lost to Florida (12-0) for the sixth straight time (it's longest losing skid in the series since dropping six in a row from 1981-86) and third straight rout, being outscored 127-37. UF coach Urban Meyer is 5-0 against Bowden. "It comes down to recruiting and coaching," Bowden said of the Gators' dominance in the series. "He's (Meyer) as good a coach as there is in the country. He's so thorough. "We couldn't beat him in the kicking game, we couldn't beat him on offense and we couldn't beat him on defense." On Saturday, the Seminoles needed a better start if they were to upset the top-ranked Gators, similar to what unranked Texas A&M and Auburn did in throwing scares to state rivals Texas and Alabama, respectively, before losing to the highly ranked teams on Thursday and Friday. It didn't come close to happening Saturday. The Seminoles' first drive started at their 2-yard line. "That's a tough place to start with a freshman quarterback (E.J. Manuel) in this atmosphere against the No. 1 team in the country," FSU offensive coordinator and head-coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher said. "We just couldn't get in sync." The only two times the Seminoles made it into Gator territory in the first half ended badly for Manuel and the Seminoles. After reaching the UF 44 late in the first quarter, Manuel was sacked on consecutive plays by Brandon Hicks and Carlos Dunlap to force a punt. Then on the first play from scrimmage following a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty against UF on a touchdown and the subsequent kickoff return to the Gator 44, a Manuel pass was intercepted by Joe Haden at the 28 with 53 seconds left in the half. "It was a pretty good whooping," Bowden said. "All the damage was done in the first half. We couldn't get field position in the first half and we couldn't stop them. It was pretty much what has happened much of the year." FSU gave up 510 yards of total offense while amassing only 269. The Gators out-rushed the Seminoles 312-83. "We were waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen," Fisher said. Florida State finally scored with no time left in the third quarter on Dustin Hopkins' 20-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 30-3. The Seminoles had a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line and faced a fourth-and-2 before deciding for the field goal. "The worst thing that could have happened was to be shut out," Bowden said. "I've never done that before, but we wanted to avoid the shutout. "The only thing worse than being down 30 points is not having any points up on that scoreboard. We took care of that part."Now the legendary coach has another decision to make. "Yeah, I want to coach next year," he said. "I have to do some soul-searching."Sophomore wide receiver Jarmon Fortson, who scored the 'Noles' only touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Manuel with 6:03 left in the game, said the players want Bowden back."I would love for him to come back," Fortson said. "He's a legend. Hopefully he'll stay."Contact Arnold Feliciano at 352-374-5055 or at felicia@gvillesun.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.